


Cute Charm

by SadisticSiren



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pokemon, Coordinator Isabel, Eren has several of my faves because I'm Pokemon trash, M/M, Minor Furlan Church/Isabel Magnolia, Researcher Hanji, There will be a sequel, gym leader levi, one day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-06
Updated: 2015-08-06
Packaged: 2018-04-13 05:59:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4510503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SadisticSiren/pseuds/SadisticSiren
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pokémon Ability - Cute Charm; Contact with the Pokémon may cause infatuation.</p><p> <br/>Levi didn’t question it at the time. Once in a while, trainers decided to watch gym matches out of boredom, or to see what Pokémon or moves he might use. He had no qualms with it.<br/>“As long as the trainers don’t mind, I don’t mind.” He had answered.</p><p> </p><p>Now Eren had been there for nearly three weeks, watching the majorities of his matches on the sidelines, studying him from the bleachers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cute Charm

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pomodoro](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pomodoro/gifts).



> So. Pokémon Au. Bound to happen with my love of Pokémon, but I was expecting it to take longer for me to cave.
> 
> FUCK IT, LET'S DO THIS SHIT.
> 
> So yeah, hope you like dorks. Because that is what I offer.
> 
> List of all Pokémon bios in the notes at the end.

When Levi had walked into the gym that morning, he hadn’t really expected the boy to request a battle. But now here he was on the battle field, the green eyed man standing across from him.

 

The first time Levi met him was when he had approached him while Levi was training on the bank of the river not far from the gym, fancy black boots clicking quietly followed by the light padding of his Pokémon behind him.

Levi turned from his Toxicroak to find a man dressed in a simple dark green sleeveless trench coat, black long-sleeved shirt, dark grey skinny jeans, sun kissed skin and startlingly bright green eyes, closely followed by a Mawile.

He offered a hand, which Levi took hesitantly. “It’s nice to meet you! I take it you’re Levi, The city’s Gym leader, am I right?” Levi nodded in confirmation, “Yeah that’s me.” The guy smiled politely, looking over at Toxicroak and waving slightly, then straitening up to face Levi again. “My name is Eren,” he said, placing a hand on the top of the large set of jaws protruding from the back of the Mawile’s head. “And this is Mawile. We were wondering if it would be alright with you if we were to watch some your next matches, maybe ask you a few questions afterword. Please.”

 

Levi didn’t question it at the time. Once in a while, trainers decided to watch gym matches out of boredom, or to see what Pokémon or moves he might use. He had no qualms with it.

“As long as the trainers don’t mind, I don’t mind.” He had answered.

 

 Now Eren had been there for nearly three weeks, watching the majorities of his matches on the sidelines, studying him from the bleachers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

During the first week, he never actually _talked_ to Levi. Eren watched him, and was watched in return. He paid attention throughout the whole match, afterword consoling trainers who were defeated and congratulating trainers who defeated him.

More than once the trainers were excited to see Eren, even asked him for tips on what they could do better. He gave pointers on moves they should maybe try to learn, to think about strategy, and their opponents typing and their own. It was sweet of him, honestly. Levi was never the best at advice.

A female trainer, who came in with a Lilligant and lost quite quickly, even gave him her number. The boy was, for whatever reason, incredibly popular.

Apparently popular enough that Hanji knew who he was. She had frozen stiff when had she first laid eyes on the kid, three days ago when she had stopped by to visit the gym, saying something about being on a break and that ‘the egg she had found was possibly a new Pokémon, Levi do you know what this means? Levi where are you going this is important’.

She had volunteered to referee for his next match, but when she spotted Eren sitting in his usual spot on the bleachers, she yelped and bolted over and started bombarding the poor guy with questions. Levi had to have her assistant, Moblit, ref for the match.

 During the whole battle, Hanji was whispering to him excitedly, after Eren shushed her when she first ran up. Levi had to commend him on his ability to quiet Hanji when she was excited, but now he had no idea what they were talking about.

At one point Eren had gestured weakly to Levi and Hanji had started jumping up and down and yelling. Eren was still talking quietly, so Levi couldn’t hear his responses in between Hanji’s loud squealing of “Really?”, “Oh my god does he know?!?”, “Well why the hell not!?!”, and a lot of “OMGs”.

Levi had to have Moblit pause the battle to request that she stop before she broke the stands.

 

Levi had nearly lost that match, simply from paying more attention the mystery boy and his Mawile on the side of the field than the boy on the trainer’s platform and his Braviary.

 

 

 

 

 

It was during the second week that Eren actually came up to him after a match, to ask if he could ask Levi some questions.

To Levi, Eren was like trying to read a book in a language you’ve never seen nor heard of. His emotions were easy enough to see in his (colorful as fuck) eyes, but his thoughts? Nope.

Levi was a patient man, but he was curious as fuck about this kid, alright? He’s been sitting in his gym attracting the attention of trainer after trainer _after trainer_ , and they all recognize him from god knows where. Hanji had too, though she had been far more excited than any of the trainers.

All Levi knew about him was his name, and that he’s excessively close to his Mawile. So excuse him for feeling a little out of the loop. Levi’s curiosity would not fuck off, so he agreed.

 

They ended up going to a nearby Pokémon center to heal Levi’s Pokémon from his match before going to the small café in the upper part of the building. Levi didn’t come here often, but he knew that their cinnamon buns were _fucking amazing._

He decided on getting a water and one of the heavenly cinnamon buns, while Eren got a lemonade and a blueberry and banana muffin, which he then split with Mawile. He climbed into a booth, Eren and his Mawile taking the opposite side.

“So, what did you want to ask me about? Do I get to ask questions too?”

Eren smiled playfully after swallowing what muffin was in his mouth. “Would you like to?”

Levi smirked. “Alright Eren, you can ask your questions. But for every question you ask, I get to ask one in turn. Deal?”

Eren’s eyes lit up, glinting in the sun as he sipped his lemonade, before grinning.

“I’m in.”

“I’ll go first then.” Levi took a second to think of a question. “Why the fuck does every other trainer that comes into the gym recognize you?”

Subtle.

 

Eren choked on his drink, while Mawile patted his side worriedly. When he recovered, Eren cleared his throat before speaking.

“I don’t know why they all recognize me, Levi. Maybe they’ve seen me before in a magazine, maybe on television, maybe they simply heard that ‘Eren Jaeger’ was here and came to see for their own eyes. I can tell you I don’t think I’ve ever met any of them before though.” He said, smirking slightly.

 _Jaeger_ … where has Levi heard that name before? Well it’s clear he’s famous to some degree at least, if he’s been in magazines and on television.

 

“Fine then,” Levi grumbled. “Go ahead.”

“Hmmm, I’ll start with the basics. How old are you?”

 Levi raised an eyebrow.

“I’m 24, what’s it to ya? Fuck it, same question.”

Eren smiled at the comment, shaking his head.

“Just an icebreaker, but it’s good to know. I’m 20, to answer your question.” Eren paused, thinking of a question.

 “Why are you a gym leader?”

Levi sighed dramatically, collapsing forward onto the table. “Eren, that shitty question has been asked to me by every reporter to ever grace the planet with their inaccurate information.” Everyone knew Levi Ackerman never handled press well. Last time a reporter came to his gym, she had left empty handed and furious. Not his fault she had insulted his team. And as far as anyone knows, it’s not his fault she left covered in sludge.

 

Eren put his hands up defensively. “I’m not a reporter! I’m just... curious. I’ve heard a lot about you. Not just anyone can be the last gym leader before people enter the Pokémon league. Are you aware some people call you ‘The Fifth Member of the Elite Four’?”

 Levi sighed, but he could feel the tips of his ears burning. “I… didn’t know that. Makes sense I suppose. And _technically_ anyone _can_ be the last one, you know. If you want a beefed up reason, it’s because before trainers challenge the league, they need a taste of reality. To show them that it’s not a walk in the park, it’s a naked hike through the fucking amazon.”

Levi smirked. “If you want the realistic reason, I’m the gym leader people normally come to last because my team is stronger than most of the other gym leaders.”

 

It was Eren’s turn to raise an eye brow. “So you’re strong. I’d gathered as much from that battle with that cocky kid last week with the team almost completely made of steel types. Toxicroak kicked his ass.”

Damn right. Kid walked boasting about ‘what a cinch this was gonna be, they may as well hand over the badge now’, but left screaming and crying.

Eren leaned forward, relentless.

“But _why_ are you a _gym leader_ , why not a Trainer or a Coordinator?” Eren’s eyes were blazing, gaze attentive. He genuinely wanted to know about Levi, and for no other reason than self-curiosity?

 “Isn’t it my turn now?” Levi asked, eyes narrowing.

“No, you haven’t answered my question yet.”

 Sighing again, Levi continued. “If you must know, I was actually a trainer for a while actually traveling with my little sister and our friend, but then I realized that as much as I liked the freedom to do as I liked on the road, besides the gym battles and training I rarely battled anyone.”

“I consulted a friend about it; I believe you’ve met her, Hanji Zoë?” Eren smiled at the memory of the researcher talking with him, nodding in confirmation. “She suggested that instead of going to the fight, I could have the fight come to me. I can do whatever I want with the gym really, as long as the league’s rules are met, so I’ve still got quite a bit of freedom. And it’s not like the challengers are back to back, so I’ve free time too.” Levi frowned.

“The only down side really is that lately I have to go much easier on some of the trainers, or nobody’d ever get the badge from the gym.” For some odd reason, Eren perked up a bit at that.

 

Levi thought for a moment, for a question of a different topic. “Do you have a type specialty?”

It was Eren’s turn to sigh, slumping down on the table. “No, I couldn’t pin myself to one single type. My sister does though, as do most of my friends. She’s a fire type specialist. I think you’d like her. She was rather over protective after we adopted her. Still is, though it’s been toned down the older we’ve gotten.”

 Levi swallowed the last of his cinnamon bun before replying. “Huh, my little sister’s adopted too. Isabel’s a Coordinator, coming back here after her contest in Stohess. She’s the complete opposite of me. She’s loud, energetic, and optimistic. You two share several traits, you’d probably get along. Oh, and it’s your turn.”

 

Eren hummed, having finished his muffin, elbows on the table and chin in hands. “Why poison types? I’ve seen your gym, Levi; it’s clean, really clean. Poison types tend to be well….. I mean, Trubbish and Garbordor are _literally_ trash bags. Wait, how did you even get the gym?”

 “That’s more than one question, you know. I’ve asked two and you’ve asked three.”

 “Then answer them both then you can ask an extra one, alright?” He huffed.

 Levi shakes his head, smiling. “I was teasing you, but I’m still taking the extra question, thank you. Well let’s see, I already had Roserade and Toxicroak when all this happened; the town I’m from is full of poison types. So I just collected some more and requested a league official to come here to get myself a gym. When I was first given the building, I was given a rather large budget to do what I wanted. I cleaned it up and designed the interior and exterior myself. And voila,” he paused, gesturing to the window where you could see the gym’s tall frame towering over the shops and houses. “You have the Mitras City Gym.”

 Eren seemed impressed, and why shouldn’t he be? That shit was lot of work. Of course, his Pokémon had been a huge help. Then green eyes turned curious.

 “And you’ve never considered aiming for something … higher?”

 

Levi blinked. “Something higher?”

Eren waved his hand around, searching for the right words. “Higher than being a Gym leader. Challenging the League, Visiting other regions.” was what he came up with.

“No, I’ve never really thought about it. I wouldn’t have quit being a trainer if that was my goal.”

 

And it hadn’t been. The only real reason he had to become a trainer to begin with was the excuse to travel, the experience, and to keep an eye on Isabel and Farlan. He had traveled plenty, gained worlds of experience, and Isabel and Farlan were now keeping an eye on each other when they’re were traveling and training between Isabel’s contests. Levi squinted at Eren. “Question though, what does it matter to you?”

The corner of Eren’s mouth quirked upwards, eyes now holding a knowing gleam. He turned to share a look with Mawile, who was looked back with the same look. The must share a mind or something, they would have to, to be that in sync. Eren turned back to Levi, smiling thoughtfully.

“You must get along with your Pokémon real well, to be as strong as you are.” Eren praised, changing the conversation.

Levi glared at him weakly, but allowed it. “Of course, they’re the reason I’m able to even _have_ a gym. The first friend I ever made is now my partner, and my best friend.”

“I getcha… Mawile was my first too…” he mumbled off, absently reaching a hand over to gently pet his Mawile. The Pokémon leaned its head into the touch, let out a sound that sounded kinda like a purr.

Levi hummed, nodding his head towards the two. “You must be close with you Pokémon as well, you and Mawile especially.”

Eren blinked, looked over at his Mawile who was already looking at him, and smiled softly at her. That was a very nice smile. Shit.

“I wouldn’t be anywhere without my Pokémon, especially her,” he says fondly, patting Mawile's head, doing nothing to take her attention away from to Mawile the Skitty on the other side of the shop chasing its tail in circles.

 

Eren then turned to Levi, and he could see Eren’s grin, full of pride. “She’s my wildcard too. Haven’t been beaten in a long time, and the majority of the time it’s due to her strength and her stubbornness.” He grumbles the last bit, but he’s eyes are glowing so bright and he’s smiling so warmly Levi knows he doesn’t mind all that much.

“I don’t know Eren, you seem pretty stubborn too. Truly, you too are a perfect pair.” Levi jokes, but he makes a point. Eren seems like a determined individual as well.

Mawile clapped happily, but Eren blushed slightly at the comment, glanced down and mumbled something about pairings, brushed some dark locks behind his ear and out of his green eyes, green eyes skidding back up to meet silver and he’s so cute-

Wait,

 

_Cute?_

 

Yeah... cute.

 

Levi cleared his throat before speaking. “You plan on challenging the gym? Not to insult your training,” he turned to look at Mawile who gazes back at him, curious. “Or your ability, but you’ll need at least three Pokémon to challenge the gym. Those are the rules.”

“Hey! I’ve got more Pokémon! She just would rather be out here, with me. She’s inquisitive, likes to look around. ‘Stop and smell the roses’, if you will.” Mawile nodded, leaning onto Eren’s side. Eren frowned, contemplative, staring at the table.

“Will we be challenging the gym though? Maybe? Probably… I’m not sure if I need to yet.” _Need to? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?_

 

Then Eren turned back to him, eyes hopeful. “You’ve met my partner, can I meet yours? And the rest of your team? You can meet my team as well, if you’d like.”

This was an interesting development.

 “Haven’t you met all my Poison types already?”

Eren had watched him battle with each one of his poison types from his corner at the top of the bleachers at _least_ twice now. No, Levi’s not keeping track.

“Ah ah, I’ve _seen_ all your poison types, not _met_ them. And I haven’t even _seen_ your _partner_ yet.” He said, shaking his finger at Levi, but the smile on his face took away the seriousness from it.

“What makes you think you haven’t?” Most people assume that Levi’s partner _is_ one of his poison types, most commonly his Roserade.

 

Eren doesn’t even stop to think about it. “Because you said that I’d seen all your ‘Poison types’ and not all your ‘Pokémon’. You also implied that your partner isn’t a poison type, which I suppose makes sense as to why you don’t use them in the gym.”

 

Well shit, this kid had some brains after all.

“Isn’t that a large assumption? Maybe I just slipped up how I was talking?”

 Eren smirked, and shit, it was hot. “If your partner was one of your poison types, you would have said which one it was by now.” His smirk turns smug. Fuck Eren stop it.

Levi huffed; clearly he isn’t going to throw in the towel. The boy was seriously stubborn.

“Fine, you can meet her. But I can’t promise she’ll like you.” He concedes, “You can meet them on the Pokémon center’s training field outside.”

Eren abruptly straightened, grinning, showing off pearly white teeth. “That’s all I asked for.” Bright eyes gleaming happily, he helped Mawile off the booth before standing. Levi wanted to see him smile all the time.

Fuck.

 

 

 

 

 

Eren’s waiting for Levi when he gets to the field, Mawile hiding slightly behind his legs. The sun is shining but there’s a light cool breeze, perfect weather in Levi’s opinion. Roserade will certainly appreciate the sunlight.

 

“So Levi, Do you have a full team? Or do you have more?” Eren asks, hands behind his head, ankles crossing. His shirt is riding up and Levi can see a thin line of tan skin and – Fuck Levi this is not the time.

Eren’s dark brown hair is long enough that the top is pulled back in a ponytail, but bits in the front are falling into his face. Did this guy say he was a trainer or a model? Levi wasn’t sure anymore. Maybe that’s why he was so popular?

 

Grabbing one of his own Pokéballs, Levi waves his other hand at Eren’s belt. “I’ve got six in total, but i only use three in a single gym battle. How many do you have?”

Eren pulled an Ultra ball off of his belt, pressing the button on the ball he had picked; the ball expands in his hand. Eren places a hand on his hip, blowing the hair out of his eyes before answering. “I’ve got five with me right now, not counting the egg I got recently.” Levi arches a brow, gesturing to Eren’s belt, which holds three other Pokéballs. Three plus the one in Eren’s hand is four, so where’s the fifth? Eren looks down to where Levi gestured, and gives a small ‘oh’ before sticking a hand down the neck of his already low cut V neck long sleeve.

He pulled out a Premier ball attached to a cord around his neck, dropping it onto the front of his shirt. “It’s Mawile’s. She’s rarely in it, but I’d rather keep her close when she is.” He finishes. “Anyway, you wanna go first?” Eren suggests.

Levi shrugs, opening each Pokéball in rapid succession. “Sure, why not. Come on out, guys!” He squints briefly at the flash of red light, and then all his poison types are standing in front of him.

 

Eren claps his hands excitedly, energetically introducing himself to all of them. Roserade bows in greeting, Seviper’s tail waves around happily, and Gengar is bouncing up and down and dancing all around Eren. Scolipede curls down and makes a growling sound as if to say hello, and Toxicroak just kinda stares at him. But the stare isn’t angry, so Eren will take his victories.

“You guys are all beautiful! You wanna meet my friends too?” Levi’s Pokémon growl and chirp in response and with that Eren’s throwing up four Pokéball yelling “Meet and greet gang!”

 

When the flash of light is gone, Levi’s eyes widen. Eren has a rather impressive arsenal of a Milotic, an Absol, a Rapidash, and a Salamence. They all seem excited to see Eren; If Milotic wrapping itself around him in a hug and Rapidash’s hoof stomping is anything to go by. Eren clears his throat to get their attention, clamping his hands together.

“Alright guys, you can relax around here for a while alright? Salamence,” The large dragon looks down at its trainer. “You can fly if you want, but stay in the area and don’t go looking for a fight okay?” The dragon nods in understanding, before flapping its large wings and taking off into the air, unintentionally blowing wind everywhere. Gengar floats off into the breezes joking that he’s being blown away.

 

Eren looks back over at him, tilts his head a bit and shit that’s adorable Eren stop that Levi can’t think straight with you pulling this kind of bullshit.

“Levi? You okay?” Levi realizes he has been staring for what is longer than would be considered normal. Levi attempts to talk for a couple seconds without any sound coming out because what the fuck do you say in this situation?

“Where the fuck did you get a Salamence? A Milotic and an Absol as well, Shit kid, are you some kind of collector?”

 

That could have gone better.

Still, Levi’s rarely ever seen any of these Pokémon, and when he did, they weren’t all under the ownership of a single trainer!

Eren looks back over at his Mawile; who’s sitting with his Roserade making flower crowns. Rapidash is running along the tree lines just off the woods, blowing off steam presumably. Milotic has curled up in the sun, just off the small pond, taking a nap, and Scolipede appears to have joined her. Toxicroak looks content just wondering around as it is, and Absol keeps an eye on Salamence, probably to tell Eren if it soars too far. Seviper and Gengar chase each other in some sort of game; Absol appears to be keeping an eye on them as well.

They look like their having fun. That’s good.

 

 Eren hums, turning to look at Levi. “I’m not a collector, no, but I suppose my Pokémon are rather uncommon, aren’t they?” Levi nods; it’s a rather impressive lineup if Levi’s being honest. Eren nods at Levi’s last Pokéball. “You’ve given me some of your story; I’ll give you some of mine. But first, you said I could meet your partner, right?”

Levi nods in agreement. Looking at the Great ball in hand, his expression softens as he presses the button to let her out. “Hey, come on out, Eren wants to meet you.”

The soft chinchilla Pokémon blinks, adjusting to the light, then smiles giddily at Levi and runs in circles around him, clearly glad to be out of its ball for a while.

Levi crouches, resting his elbows on his knees, and plants a hand between her ears, scratching the fur. “Hey Min, this is Eren, Eren, this is Minccino.”

 

Minccino, having taken notice they were not alone scrutinized Eren intensely, head to toe, cocked her head to the side, deciding what to make of this new figure. Eren crouched as well, putting a hand out towards her, and smiled. “Hello, I’m Eren! So you’re Levi’s Partner, huh? You’re so clean and your fur’s so shiny. It's nice to meet you.”

 

Minccino’s eyes snapped up to meet Eren’s, and after staring at him for what had to be a solid minute, during which Levi held his breathe, she chirped and ran around in a little circle, before running up to Eren and climbing him like a tree. She took a seat on his head, chirping happily.

Levi’s knew his mouth was hanging open wide, but honestly that was the best reaction Minccino’s ever had to meeting anyone _ever_. When she met Isabel for the first time when they were kids, she had whacked her in the face with her tail and bolted under Levi’s bed. It took a month before they warmed up to each other. Hanji took longer, when she met her, Minccino wouldn’t go near her. When she finally did she stole Hanji’s filthy goggles and bolted. They found her an hour later, sitting next to the indoor pool’s fountain outside with pristine shiny goggles.

 

Eren looked pleased with himself, even if he kinda looked ridiculous with a fluffy grey lump on his head.

“How the fuck did you do that.”

Eren raised a hand, indicating that he wait, before he gently lifted Minccino off his head, and she didn’t try to claw his eyes out, to shred his face. He placed her down, and pointed over to Mawile and Roserade.

“Hey, Minccino, you see Mawile over there? If you ask her, she’d be more than happy to help you make a flower crown too. She’s really good at keeping the flowers in good shape.” He smiles at her.

Minccino stared at him for a moment, before nodding repeatedly and slowly making her way over to the pair. Levi couldn’t tell what they’re doing very well from where they are, but he watches Min sit down next to Mawile, and watches the bipedal Pokémon weave the flowers together with rapt attention. He finally turned back to Eren, who had stood up and was dusting himself off.

 

“Now, why are all your Pokémon so rare? Fuck, I haven’t seen a Milotic in years, they’re gorgeous aren’t they?” He complimented, and Milotic, whom Levi thought was asleep, makes a sound of approval.

Eren sighed, rubbing at the back of his neck. “Which story do you want to hear? Each one’s different, and some of them are kind of sad.”

Levi shrugged. “I’m up to hear all of them, we’ve got the time. I’ve no more matches today.” He responds.

 Eren smiled softly, “Alright then,” he murmurs, moving to sit on the nearby bench, and Levi joins him “Which one do you want to hear first?”

 Levi ran a hand through his hair, staring at the large group of Pokémon enjoying the time off. His eyes eventually fall on Rapidash as it wizzes by where they’re sitting.

“Rapidash’s history I guess. Not as rare as the others, but probably still just as interesting.”

 Eren nodded, moving to sit more comfortably. “Yeah, Rapidash was my second Pokémon. I first met her when she was a ponyta when I was traveling to Trost…”

 

 

 

 

Two days later finds Levi on the bleachers scrubbing viciously at a mud bomb that a trainer’s palpitoad misfired. Eren wandered over not long after he finished consoling the trainer. He was mostly quiet, but the silence isn’t uncomfortable. Inevitably though, Eren hesitantly broke it.

“Levi, I forgot to ask earlier, but why do yo keep this place so clean anyway? You mop the floors along the battle field like 5 times a day.”

Levi pulled the white cloth he had over his mouth down, and leveled Eren with a weak glare.

“My gym may be a poison type gym, but I don’t want Pokémon or even people to get sick or poisoned by some sludge bomb goop that some brat neglected to wipe off their fucking shoe.”

Eren nodded sharply and Levi goes back to scrubbing the seat.

Out of the corner of his eye, he notices that Eren had found a broom and a dustpan, and that he and Mawile were cautiously sweeping up poison powder debris next to the trainer’s platform.

 

 

 

 

He asked Levi if he’d be willing to battle him. Levi accepted, as is his job, but he finds he doesn’t want follow through.

If Eren lost, he might be sad, and Levi doesn’t want that, never that.

But if he won, Eren will take his badge and leave, and Levi doesn’t want that either.

 But he also wanted to see what Eren can do, see how his Pokémon move, what moves his Pokémon know. He wanted to know how he takes being in a tight spot, and how quick his decisions were, he wanted to see what Eren’s like in a battle.

 

 

 

 

Isabel had come back later that day, with a happy but exhausted Farlan in tow.

She had won another ribbon, the last one she needed, and Farlan had caught a Noibat on the way back, a real sweetie.

Isabel had freaked out when she had seen Eren sitting on the bleachers, texting whoever the hell it was, but before she could say anything, Hanji and Eren drag her and Farlan off for some reason. When she came back, she’s bouncing up and down, lips pressed into a line.

Levi knew she was keeping a secret and wanted to share, because that’s how she looked when she and Farlan had started dating and didn’t know who to tell him. (He already knew, they weren’t exactly subtle). Farlan looked like he’s hiding something too, but he was doing a much better job of hiding it.

When Isabel learned that he and Eren are going to battle in three hours she asked, no, she _demanded_ that she be the referee. Levi agreed, to Hanji’s disappointment.

 

 

 

 

Isabel stood on the referee platform, a purple flag in one hand, the other on her cocked hip. Her smile was excited, but her voice when announcing was strong and practiced. She or Farlan normally ref when they’re not away participating in a contest or training.

“This will be a three-on-three match,” she announced. “The match will be over when all three of either Trainer’s Pokémon are deemed unable to continue! Only the challenger is allowed substitutions! Ready?” Having received a strong nod from both Eren and Levi, she slings the flag downwards. “Begin!”

 

Levi’s met Eren’s Pokémon, and has planned for them accordingly. “Gengar, I choose you!”

 

But of course, Eren’s met his too.

“Alright Absol, Let’s do this!”

 

 

It was one of the longest and best battles Levi’s had in a long while.

 

 

Absol's type advantage took out Gengar with a fast Night Slash to his side, but Toxicroak took what health Absol had left with its fighting type advantage, at the price of a nasty Psycho Cut.

Toxicroak went down to Salamence, but the poison Salamence sustained from the battle made him faint quickly into his battle with Roserade, who took him to town with a single quick poison jab.

 

If Levi had been expecting anyone other than Mawile as Eren’s third and final Pokémon, he would have been mistaken. Mawile was a fairy type, which is weak to poison, but she is also a steel type, which is immune to poison, and resistant to Roserade second typing, grass. Mawile definitely had a serious advantage.

 

 

While Levi knew who all of Eren’s Pokémon were, Eren knew not only Levi’s Pokémon, but their _moves_ , which gave Eren an even _larger_ advantage. Levi isn’t even surprised when he called for the battle to finish, swiftly walking onto the field to retrieve Roserade after she was hit by that flash canon.

 

 

Mawile danced around happily, finally stopping to hug Eren’s legs tightly. Eren pulled out a sitris berry from god knows where, squatting down and handed it to her.

“Thanks Mawile, you did fantastic.”

“You did too.” Levi chimed in.

“Thanks, you almost had me there. Closest battle I’ve had in a long time.” He praised, tossing a second sitris berry to Levi, gesturing for him to give it to Roserade.

 

Levi pulled his gym’s badge, The Lethal badge, out of his pocket. The small metal badge depicting a lilac and a black sword crossing over a dark violet circle is given to anyone who defeats the Mitras Gym.

 Levi attempted to hand the badge to Eren. “I don’t think I’ve ever been beaten without a rematch before.”

Eren stared at him for a moment, before he reached for the badge.

But instead of taking it, to Levi’s confusion, he closed Levi’s fingers over the badge, before shoving his own hands into his coats pockets.

 

“Eren, you won, you get the badge now, that’s how this works. Don’t you want it?”

Levi’s literally had a trainer or two ask him to _sell them_ the badge, because they had tried to win it numerous times and failed. The first person to ever win it in one shot, and he didn't even _want_ it?

 

Eren shrugged. “You use badges to enter the league, take on the elite four, and then the Champion.”

Levi spied Isabel covering her mouth to muffle her laughter on the side, which he knows Hanji isn’t even bothering to try to hide by the cackling echoing over on the bleachers.

“Yes?”

“Well it’d be kinda pointless for me to take the badge due to the fact that _I’m_ the champion, Levi.”

 

 

……

 

 

What.

 

“You’re the fucking champion.”

“Yes.”

“The Champion just battled in my gym, and won a badge.”

“Yup.”

“And those two,” He pointed to the Isabel and Hanji, “Knew who you were?”

He could hear Farlan’s “Hey! I knew too! Don’t forget about me, asshole!” clearly, even from across the room.

 

Eren nodded, looking over at them as well. “Yeah, they knew. I’m surprised you _didn’t_ know. I'm not exactly new at this, I’ve been Champion for four years.”

 

Levi raised a hand to stop him. “I _did_ recognize your name, asshat. Your _last_ name specifically, but I didn’t realize from where.”

So _that’s_ where he’s heard the name Jaeger before. It’s not like it’s a common name.

Levi sighed, crossing his arms over his chest.

“And what was the point in all of this?”

 

Eren rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, looking over at Isabel, Farlan, and Hanji on the bleachers. Isabel hugging the crap out of Farlan and nodding at him, Farlan looking amused beyond belief but nodded once, and Hanji gave a him double thumbs up. He took a deep breath.

“Well like I said before, I’d heard a lot about you….

 

He’d heard Levi was a really strong gym leader, several trainers who managed to battle him mentioned the Poison specialist with a scowl. They said he made it seem like there was five elite four members, with how hard he was to defeat. Obviously, Eren wanted to meet him in person, to see for himself.

So it was pure luck that his friend Armin, an elite four member, the water specialist, was planning to take over for his grandfather and become a Pokémon professor for new trainers, and was in need of a replacement.

Eren jumped at the chance, hoped on Salamence and flew all night, and now here they were. Here, in Levi's Gym. 

 

Levi must be hearing things.

 

 

“You want me to be an Elite four _member_.”

Eren nodded, face determined. “I’ve seen what you can do; you’d make a great member. You’ve already got a specialty so there’s no worry about that, and you won’t have to hold back at all or do much in the way of training before you can start.”

 

Levi wanted to accept, this sounds interesting, and he’d get to see Eren on a daily basis, so hey that’s a plus. But he also wanted to stay.

This is his gym, he built it, he made it into the gym it is today, and he’d miss it. But the prospect of being a member of the elite four was nothing to scoff at, and the more Levi thought about it, the better the Idea seemed.

 

Until he thought of something, something he had realized while Eren had been talking about the town he was from, a little out of the way place on a coast. The way Eren's eyes lit up and he talked so animatedly. And the thought made his stomach sink.

“So is the only reason you’re here is because you needed at new member?”

 

What about all the talking they did? All the friendly bickering and smiles? Was that all just to get him to join the league?

 

“No, well that’s the official reason. I was going to come see you, talk to you regardless of the position, but it’s convenient a bonus on your part that I had an excuse to come, I guess? And it’s good that I like spending time with you, so it’s not like we’d be at each other’s throats like _certain_ members and shit I’m rambling aren’t I?” he laughed nervously.

 

Levi ran a hand through his hair, takes a deep breath, but he could feel the heat in his face. “So you’re serious about all this?”’

Eren smiled, and shit Levi’s already convinced. “Yes.”

 “Wait, wait, serious about the job, or serious about actually liking spending time with me?”

 Eren’s cheeks turned pink. “um..….Both?”

 “Oh.” Levi’s face is on fire.

 “Yeah...” Eren’s is too.

Levi swallowed. “Well... I- I guess so- Oh! Wait a sec, group meeting guys.” He releases all the Pokémon he didn’t use in battle. He gives Gengar and Toxicroak a revive each, spraying them both and Roserade with Hyper potions before asking. “What do you guys think of joining the elite four? We’d be leaving the gym, but we’d still be battling. You guys in?”

 He decided to take the sudden dancing and clapping as an approval.

Levi turned back to Eren, nodding, small smile on his face. “Alright, Champion Eren Jaeger, I’ll join the elite four.”

 

Eren smiled.

Levi knew he’s never going to get used to that.

 

 

 

 

He could’ve just closed the gym, but Farlan offers to take over, with the reasoning that he wanted to see what it’s like, and Isabel is gonna stay to help him for a while before the Grand Festival comes up. Farlan mentioned he will probably end up changing the gym’s type to a flying type gym, as all his Pokémon are flying types.

Levi promised them both to write, and they made him promise to visit as soon as possible. He couldn't say no to them.

 

 

Eren offered to help Levi pack, so when Levi remembered, they’re in his living room taping the last of his boxes shut, while their Pokémon play the yard for the last time.

Levi placed the box he had been carrying down on the floor, before walking back into the empty living room. “Hey Eren, remember two weeks ago at the cafe? I never got to finish with the extra question you gave me.”

Eren appeared to have thrown himself down onto the couch, the only piece of furniture left in the building.

Eren's eyes are closed, but he answered, “Oh? Alright, ask away.”

Levi cleared his throat, fiddling his hands together. “Would you be willing… to go out on a date with me?” Levi asked quietly, sitting down next to him.

Eren beamed, sitting up and throwing his arms around Levi. “Of course.”

**Author's Note:**

> These are the Pokémon, by the way, in the order they are mentioned.
> 
> [Mawile](http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Mawile_\(Pok%C3%A9mon\))  
> [Toxicroak](http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Toxicroak_\(Pok%C3%A9mon\))  
> [Lilligant](http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Lilligant_\(Pok%C3%A9mon\))  
> [Braviary](http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Braviary_\(Pok%C3%A9mon\))  
> [Trubbish](http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Trubbish_\(Pok%C3%A9mon\))  
> [Roserade](http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Roserade_\(Pok%C3%A9mon\))  
> [Garbodor](http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Garbodor_\(Pok%C3%A9mon\))  
> [Skitty](http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Skitty_\(Pok%C3%A9mon\))  
> [Seviper](http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Seviper_\(Pok%C3%A9mon\))  
> [Gengar](http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Gengar_\(Pok%C3%A9mon\))  
> [Scolipede](http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Scolipede_\(Pok%C3%A9mon\))  
> [Milotic](http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Milotic_\(Pok%C3%A9mon\))  
> [Absol](http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Absol_\(Pok%C3%A9mon\))  
> [Salamence](http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Salamence_\(Pok%C3%A9mon\))  
> [Rapidash](http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Rapidash_\(Pok%C3%A9mon\))  
> [Minccino](http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Minccino_\(Pok%C3%A9mon\))  
> [Palpitoad](http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Palpitoad_\(Pok%C3%A9mon\))  
> [Noibat](http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Noibat_\(Pok%C3%A9mon\))  
> I will eventually go back and actually write the fight scene out, but I was lazy and fight scenes are hard and long and a fucking pain to write out. Later probably. After Chapter 3 of MGAF.
> 
> I actually have a sequel vaguely planned out, but I don't know when it will come out, considering I haven't started yet. *sighs*
> 
> So yeah, tell me what you thinks.


End file.
